FRANK WARREN reckons Tyson Fury’s undisputed heavyweight title fight with Anthony Joshua is in danger of being delayed until SEPTEMBER.
The biggest fight in the history of British boxing is close to being finalised, with both fighters and their respective teams going over the lucrative site offers they’ve recently received.
July 24 has been earmarked as the date for the long-awaited Battle of Britain, although Warren reckons AJ’s coach’s involvement at the Olympics could scupper those plans.
Fury‘s co-promoter told talkSPORT: “I’m seeing all these various stories, ‘It’s gonna be Wembley on July 24,’ and so forth.
“But I don’t see how any of that can happen in July or even early August from my perspective.
“Robert McCracken is AJ’s trainer, he’s also our Olympic team’s head coach, so he’s gonna be in Japan – I think the Olympics start on July 23, and I don’t know what the quarantine period is.
“He can’t be in two places at once. That’s if Robert McCracken’s still training AJ, maybe he’s not training the Olympic squad, I’m not sure. That’s one issue.
“I don’t believe this fight will go on until – if it’s late August we’ll be very lucky, maybe September.”
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Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, and Singapore have all expressed an interest in hosting Joshua vs Fury.
But talks over staging the multi-million-pound bout at Wembley have also been had.
Warren added: “We’ve been having discussions at government level with a view to try and get this fight on in the UK if nothing else comes in from elsewhere.
“I’m hoping something will come in from elsewhere.
“We’ve had really good responses from them [the government], they’ve been very helpful and our discussions continue.”
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, is confident the fight will be finalised in the near future, saying last weekend: “We are very close.
“Tomorrow [Sunday] both guys will be presented with the options for a fight in the summer.
“Joshua doesn’t talk much about fights – but he talks when it’s close. You can feel the excitement building.
“We are in a great place with several offers on the table. I’m quietly confident. It was nice to see Fury post with enthusiasm because he feels that we are close.
“The teams will get together. I will try to see Bob Arum on Tuesday. We’re nearly there. We have worked really hard and we don’t want to give in.
“It [Wembley] will be presented. Financially, it’s not at the races.
“The question is: can we get 100,000 fans on July 24, the potential date in London? The answer is ‘we hope so’. It is difficult to make a decision on that basis.
“This is why it’s taking longer than expected. It’s the logistics, testing policies, crowds.
“But now is the time to make this fight. Now. The summer. We may not get this opportunity again.
“Both guys accept that and are ready for the challenge.”
